vegan | wfpb | gluten-free | grain-free | oil-free | easy | veggie-packed | year-round

Kale covered in cheesy sauce? I could eat that all day! I’m trying to be more aware of my intake of greens, realizing that I’ve lapsed a bit lately. With potatoes and lentils, we’ve got a one-pan meal here. This dish is so comforting it’s like a big hug. The cheese sauce is rich without oil and just a small amount of macadamia nuts instead of the typical vegan cheese sauce with lots of cashews. I think it’s my favorite cheese sauce so far. It really brings this dish together, and the recipe makes a generous amount. The ingredients are pretty basic; you may have many of them on-hand, and the whole thing can be pulled together start to finish in about 40 minutes as long as you’ve remembered to pre-soak your macadamias at least a couple hours. To make it easy, you can keep them in the fridge soaking overnight or during the day while you’re at work.

It took me awhile to find organic macadamia nuts. I was starting to think they didn’t exist until I finally found some at Thrive Market. The bonus about finding them there is that Thrive offers really nice free products with purchase of a relatively small amount of groceries and free shipping, pretty sweet! I would rather skip the pesticides when possible, so this was a great find.

I’ve used red potatoes here, but you can really use any. For the cheese sauce, it’s important to use red or yellow potatoes to achieve the desired color.

These cheesy sheet-pan potatoes combined with the lentils and greens really ticks all the boxes for me. I’m satisfied without any grains involved (which I have a tendency to overdo), and it’s a great way for kids to get their greens in. With an entire bunch of kale or collards, we’re getting more greens than we typically get in one meal. It’s hearty enough for my husband to feel satisfied, too, which is saying something. I love that there really isn’t a need to make anything else for dinner! Really, this would be great for breakfast, too.

Cheesy Vegan Sheet-pan Potatoes with Greens and lentils

THE RECIPE

vegan | wfpb | gluten-free | grain-free | oil-free | easy | veggie-packed | year-round

Pre-soak time: at least 2 hours | prep time: 30 minutes | cook time: 30 minutes | Total prep/cook time: about 40 minutes (with overlap)

Makes 4 main or 6 side servings

Note: This recipe calls for a high-speed blender. If you have a standard blender just add more milk to the cheese sauce ingredients to keep from overworking your blender. I leave the skins on all of the potatoes, including those steamed for the cheesy sauce, which adds some red specks that I don’t mind at all. If you prefer, go ahead and peel them. Heads up: Soak the macadamia nuts for at least 2 hours prior.

ingredients

• 2 lbs + 3 medium red potatoes, about 1 ½ cups

• 1 small sweet potato, about ½ cup

• 1 bunch kale or collards

• 2 15-ounce cans or about 3 cups lentils

• 1 tablespoon coconut aminos

• ¼ cup soaked macadamia nuts

• 2 shallots

• 2 garlic cloves

• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar

• ¼ teaspoon turmeric

• 1 cup plain plant-based milk (I like macadamia or coconut)

instructions

Soak the macadamia nuts for at least 2 hours prior.

1. Set the oven to 425 degrees. Clean, trim, and chop the two pounds of red potatoes into about one-inch pieces. Place them in a bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon coconut aminos. Bake 20 minutes at 425 degrees.

2. Meanwhile, pour an inch or two of water into a pot and set it to boil. Chop the three red potatoes and sweet potato into one-inch pieces and place them into your steamer basket. When the pot comes to a boil, add the basket and lid and steam for 15 minutes, until the potatoes are very tender.

3. While the potatoes cook and steam, drain the macadamia nuts and put them into a high-speed blender. Coarsely chop the shallots and garlic and add them, too, plus the salt and nutritional yeast. Wash, dry, de-stem, and chop the kale or collards into ribbons. If using collards, cut the ribbons in half.

4. When the potatoes are done steaming, let them cool about 5 minutes, then add them to the blender along with the vinegar, turmeric, and milk. (If you don’t have a high speed blender, add more milk so that it won’t burn out your blender!) Blend on high speed for a good 30 seconds - one minute, until the sauce is nice and smooth.

5. Get the pot water boiling again and add the greens to the steamer basket. Steam for about 2 minutes, until dark green but not soggy. Remove from the heat.

6. When the timer goes off on the oven potatoes, make sure they’re starting to become golden. If not, put them back in another 5 minutes at a time until they are. If they are, take them out and flip them. Turn the oven up to 450 degrees. Sprinkle the lentils over the potatoes, letting them fill the nooks and crannies of the baking pan. Then add the kale or collards in one layer, trying not to have any greens piled up too much. On top of the greens, generously drizzle the cheese sauce with a spatula or large spoon, making sure to cover all of the greens well. You should use at least two of the three cups of sauce - go ahead and use it all, though, if you’d like!

7. Place the pan back in the oven, which has increased to 450 degrees, for another 10 minutes. Serve while warm.

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Have you tried this recipe? I’d love to hear what you think below, or feel free to contact me with feedback or questions. It’s also so fun to see your finished creations! Here’s a new # for Instagram: #beautifulingredienteats